Give N.W.T. Wildlife Act changes more time: MLAs

Some Northwest Territories MLAs want Environment Minister Michael Miltenberger to give interest groups more time to review and respond to proposed changes to the Wildlife Act.

Miltenberger said this week he will present the proposed new Wildlife Act in the legislature in two weeks, in the hopes of concluding a review of the act that began a decade ago.

That review has gone through more than 54 drafts, with the most recent draft made public late last year.

The latest draft, at 74 pages long, has been updated following a series of meetings in N.W.T. communities.

But some organizations have said they are not satisfied with the current version. The N.W.T. Wildlife Federation says the proposed law favours aboriginal hunters, while the N.W.T. Chamber of Mines says it puts further limits on mining exploration.

Yellowknife Great Slave MLA Glen Abernethy asked Miltenberger on Wednesday to hold off on presenting the proposed new Wildlife Act until the spring or summer assembly sessions.

"What is the urgency? Why don't we wait, go back out to talk to those people that have concerns, get the information and put forward an act that is right?" Abernethy said in the legislature.

Wants act passed by fall

But Miltenberger said if the government does not vote on the new Wildlife Act before the territorial election in October, it could be years before it becomes law.

"I believe at the end of the day, we will have addressed the majority of concerns of the groups," Miltenberger said.

Abernethy said interest groups should have ample time and resources to review the new act, just as aboriginal groups did.

"It doesn't mean every one of them is going to be agreed with, but we have to show that we are listening," he told CBC News outside the legislature.

Yellowknife Frame Lake MLA Wendy Bisaro said she wants Miltenberger to meet with concerned groups in the next two weeks.

"The general public is flying blind on this," she said. "All they know is the draft act that they saw in December, and it has some pretty huge problems."

Once Miltenberger tables the proposed new Wildlife Act, MLAs will have 120 days to review it and hold final consultations.